Concern for Colon Cancer?

[adiquod]

Hello,
I am 23 years old and have had chronic constipation most of my life. Recently, I noticed small bright red 'slivers' or 'chunks' scattered throughout my stool, with no blood on the tissue (I have had fissures before and this seems quite different -- these occur even without painful BMs, although the stool still seems harder than it should be).  The chunks are small, thin (although a few have been circular), 1mm-2mm, and appear almost to be red mucous.  I have noticed feelings of incomplete BM.  I have no abdominal pain.  I visited the ER twice within 3 days and have had blood drawn (which came back OK) and two fecal occult blood tests, which both came back negative.  Both physicians I saw said they felt no cause of worry, and did not want to do a CT Scan. I have been diagnosed previosly with generalized anxiety disorder, and although constipation seems to run in my family, I have no family history of colorectal cancer.  I have been extremely nervous about this and unable to eat or function normally.  What risk do you believe I am at for colon cancer?  How worried should I be?  I am very scared, and the soonest I can get to see a specialist in my area will be 1-2 months from now.

[Kevin Pho, MD]

Colon cancer would be unlikely at your age.  

More probably causes of blood in the stool would be a hemorrhoid, colitis, or a fissure.  Irritable bowel syndrome can cause the change in bowel habits.  

If the symptoms continue, it would not be unreasonable to undergo a flexible sigmoidoscopy - which would be a pretty good test to rule out any possibility of cancer, as well as evaluating for the aforementioned diseases.

Followup with your personal physician is essential.

This answer is not intended as and does not substitute for medical advice - the information presented is for patient education only. Please see your personal physician for further evaluation of your individual case.

Kevin, M.D.
Medical Weblog:
kevinmd_b

[cody95709]

I would agree with FORUM-MD

"More probably causes of blood in the stool would be a hemorrhoid, colitis, or a fissure. Irritable bowel syndrome can cause the change in bowel habits.

If the symptoms continue, it would not be unreasonable to undergo a flexible sigmoidoscopy - which would be a pretty good test to rule out any possibility of cancer, as well as evaluating for the aforementioned diseases.

Followup with your personal physician is essential.
"

His/her first three estimates (bleeding hemorrhoid, colitis, or a fissure (from temporary streatching of the anus causing bleeding) seems most likley.

TC,
Cody

[mike2010]

Hi there,

I am your age (off by a year) and have a very similar, if not the same problem. Strange pieces that look like flakes, red. Also small, thin stools, in particular, strangely thin. Things improve with regular fibre in the mornings but are still irregularly thin. Strangely, I also have no stomach or abdominal pain, as mentioned. I do notice a certain feeling... call it an irritation, on my left side, although it doesn't hurt or anything. Its very subtle and could be nothing. 2-3 times, after eating a big meal, I have had strange stomach (?) aches that don't exactly "hurt" but sort of make me feel uncomfortable when sitting/lying in certain positions.

Are you a student by any chance? I am, and I have very irregular/poor eating and sleeping habits which may contribute. I also have a lot of stress which may contribute. In my view, I eat a lot of sugary foods. I also have had a long history of constepation, since I was in my mid-teens. One other change was that I stopped a previously regular execise regiment, although I have not gained weight.

The temporarly solution my doctor gave me was to have a bowl of fiber in the  morning, eat only flax or whole grain bread for lunch, and that dinner should be fine if I do that. Also, that I should regulate my eating and sleeping habits. That is holding me up until I see a specialist. I don't know if you should follow that advice or not. I'm not a doctor.

Any other similarities or recommendations? When I find out more, I'll post. Please do the same. I am also a little concerned about the cancer I suppose and as as a future risk.. if things are this bad at this age, its gonna be a heck of a ride when I get older.

[Inanga]

plenty of fibre and lots of WATER. grainy foods take a lot of water to digest. Also an enama can help. Fill the colon with fluid and hold it for a while (easier said than done). You'll be amazed what can be freed up from a supposedly empty tract. Hope you're not eating while browsing...